SYLLABUS

DESMA 154 – WORD & IMAGE – WINTER 2018 – JUNK BATTLE !

PROFESSOR REBECA MÉNDEZ

T.A. ELÍ JOTEVA

Course Description: 154. Word + Image (5) Studio, six hours; outside study, nine hours. Preparation: completion of preparation for major courses. Enforced requisite: course 101 or 104. Focus on relationship of type to content, image, and materials. Acquisition of knowledge of and sensitivity to typography in context of complex communication problems in print and digital media. Research, concept and content development, and articulation of methodology for visualization. P/NP or letter grading.

Class structure: Classroom time will be used primarily to review work either as class discussion or individual meetings. Every week you will have a new phase of the project due the following class meeting or week. Work is to be presented according to instructions (to come) by 9:00 am.

Expectations: You must demonstrate through the readings, projects (both process and end project) as well as through classroom discussion that you grasp the material being taught.

Attendance: You must attend each class. This class will cover a lot of material in a short period of time. There is little, if any, way to make up for a lost class. You are responsible for work due on the day you are absent and for projects given on the day you missed. An emergency or illness is the only acceptable excuse. You must let the T.A. and me know, prior to the class meeting, that either you will a) miss the class and the reason; or b) why you did not attend. Class begins promptly at 9:00 am. There is a 5-minute grace period. If you arrive to class between 9:05 and 9:15 am, you will be marked tardy. Every tardy is a 1/3 grade point down on your final grade (A+ to A). If you are later than 15 minutes you’ll be marked absent. Each (unexcused) absence will result in one full grade letter down (A+ to B+). Three unexcused absences will result in a failed grade in the class (F).

Grades: Each class you will be evaluated equally on the following:

Success of project

Presentation of project

Quality of effort

Class participation and engagement

Understanding of the reading material

Attendance, depending on the circumstances, will also affect your grade as stated above.

Your final grade is the average of all grades in combination with your attendance records.

DMA Lectures: Your attendance is required in at least 3 lectures offered by the DMA during the Winter quarter. The following Lecture is required: Artist Diane Burko on February 28, 12:30–2:00 pm. See: http://www.dianeburko.com/and http://glacialshifts.com Location TBD. Lectures will be added to the Events page. Each missed lecture counts as an ‘absence’ and affects your grade as stated above. To prove attendance, please take a selfie at the event and send a short email blurb (a few sentences) to your TA describing what you got out of the lecture or event.

Uploading content: All your work must be uploaded online and in the class drop box. For website / wordpress content upload Jpegs and PDFs according to instructions on “Uploading to Wp” website section. Make sure you follow instructions closely: size your images correctly and mark your posts with the correct category the project falls under. For your class cloud uploads, add every project you do in your own individual folder (PDFs/Jpegs + InDesign files) and in the corresponding project phase folder (PDFs or Jpegs only). Name your files in this format “DATE_NAME_PROJECTPHASE” for example “01.28.18_KayNui_INDIVIDUAL_FINDINGS”. All files must be uploaded by due date to receive a grade.

Other: Turn off cell phones during class. No food in class. No text messaging, ichatting, skyping , or emailing during class.

W2018 Project Description:

JUNK BATTLE!

LA’s most creative minds are taking on Big Junk.

On April 20, 2018 JUNK BATTLE! brings the County’s architecture and design students together with sustainability professionals to focus on one of LA’s toughest challenges: what to do about mountains of waste. The event is organized by Pando Populus, a producer of strategically chosen initiatives for a more sustainable Los Angeles County. Its mission is to produce experiences “Where big ideas come down to Earth.”

The JUNK BATTLE! competition brings together LA County’s architecture and design schools to upcycle institutional waste in the most useful and creative ways imaginable. Professionals volunteer as project consultants. Work begins ahead of time and culminates on the day of the event with celebrity judging. Projects are displayed at key locations around the County.

What can we contribute to this initiative as the UCLA DMA 154 Word + Image class?

Junk Battle! is a book comprised of two parts: Your Waste Awareness project and Change a Habit project.

Your Waste Awareness:

The project documents the waste you produce in 7 days. There are many kinds of waste we produce which include organic, plastics, paper, glass, metal, clothes, e-waste, hazardous, etc&hellip; Through words, drawings, diagrams, charts, and photography you will document the waste you generate every day, for days. This content will be processed and designed into the book.

Change a Habit:

Conceive of a project based on the following stages for a more sustainable lifestyle: REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, ROT and REPURPOSE. Your project can focus on one stage or all. A project can be a simple as choosing to ‘reduce’ the amount of plastic you are using, or to ‘rot’ by starting a compost, or you can ‘repurpose’ some trash you found in the UCLA waste facilities.

Document the process to create content to design into the book.

Some preliminary remarks

On average, Americans throw away their own body weight in trash every month.

Circular Economy

“We live in a defining moment in history – a moment where the international community has come together to agree on an ambitious framework to resolve some of the world’s most daunting challenges. Anchored in a set of universally applicable Sustainable Development Goals, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all 193 members of the United Nations in September 2015, underlined a common determination to take bold and transformative steps towards a better future for all. Now is the time for implementation. We must now begin to practice what we have preached – changing our production and consumption patterns in order to create virtuous cycles rather than depletive ones and harnessing the global interconnectedness, communications technology and breakthroughs in materials science.”

–Foreword to: The New Plastics Economy, Rethinking the Future of Plastics

Future industry

Waste360: “What advice would you give to someone looking to have a career in the waste and recycling industry?”

Heather Repenning, LA Commissioner on Board of Public Works: “Go for it. Waste disposal is a very basic part of existence, and you can have a huge impact on the environment and the quality of life by working to improve the concept of waste disposal. In the waste and recycling industry, there is a lot of room for innovation and growth. There are also many opportunities to create satisfying careers in this industry.”

Conversion technology

Each day, 135,000 tons of trash is sent to California landfills. These materials represent a resource that could be better used to benefit the businesses and residents of California.

21st century conversion technologies are changing the way we think of trash or waste. The County of Los Angeles sees trash as a potential resource, and conversion technologies are an innovative way to convert that resource into renewable energy, biofuels, and other useful products.

Restorative Enterprise

Can we not only eliminate our negative impact on the environment, but also have positive impacts? Could we knit together fractured communities, economies and ecosystems as we do businesses?

WEEK 5:WEDNESDAY _ 02.07.18
Site visit: UCLA FM Yard: Meet at 9:00 am at the intersection of Charles E Young Drive and De Neve Dr. Bonny Bentzin will give us a tour of the FM yard and then down to some locations in south campus.

The final project Junk Battle! is a book comprised of two parts: Your Waste Awareness project and Change a Habit project.

Your Waste Awareness:
Through words, drawings, diagrams, charts, and photography begin a documentation of all the waste you generate every day. Continue the documentation for 21 days without interruption.

Change a Habit:
Conceive of a project based on the following stages for a more sustainable lifestyle: REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, ROT and REPURPOSE. Your project can focus on one stage or all.

Concept Development note:
Allow for the research to speak to you—listen and observe patterns, possible relationships (both, congruent and incongruent). In other words, through observation and play, allow ideas to emerge. Each idea is a pool of visual potentialities. Explore ideas, imagine what ‘it’ can be and make notes, both verbal and visual. Ideas are the images of thought. Ideas are stories. What is the story of the site that you will tell? Present your ideas with words and images—photographs, diagrams, graphs, maps, illustration, etc…These images can be only yours or references that represent your creative direction.

If you are documenting a process, follow the instructions above, as they will be similar to the documentation of Your Waste Project. If you are making a physical object, you need to start testing, prototyping and have a clear fabrication process and schedule. Bring your fabrication process drawings, photographs, and prototypes, tests, etc…

Begin to incorporate the process documentation into your book.

3: Research Poster(s): Refine Design

Present your refined research poster(s) design. You may choose to incorporate them to your book, if so, show them already inserted in your book spreads.

2: Change a Habit Project: FINAL DESIGN and Production/fabrication Phase

If you are documenting a process follow the instructions above of ‘Your Waste Awareness’ project. If you are making a physical object, you need to be in the final stages of fabrication. If the work is too large to bring to class, bring your fabrication process drawings, photographs, and prototypes, tests, etc… Otherwise, bring the actual object in progress. By Monday week 9, all of your photographs, copy, drawings, etc… of your project need to be incorporated into your book. Only left are the photographs of your final project, to be inserted for printing the final book. Let us know where you may need help with fabrication.

3: Research Poster(s): Final Design

Present your final research poster(s) design. The quantity of the posters is up to the student, one minimum. You may choose to incorporate them to your book, if so, show them already inserted in your book spreads.

WEEK 9: MONDAY _ 03.05.18

Review student work. Individual meetings

Begin printing your book this week.

Homework: Due Wednesday _ 03.07.18 _ WEEK 9

1: Your Waste Awareness Project: Final Production/Book Binding Phase

All of your book should be completely final, ready to print.

2: Change a Habit Project:

Your project needs to be finalized this week. All project documentation/copy needs to be incorporated to the final book by Wednesday, except for the ‘hero shots’ of your final project which might still be in fabrication. Use ‘FPO—for position only’ photos in the spreads dedicated to the final images. Bring a proposal on how you will be photographing your final project.

3: Research Poster(s): Printing

Print your poster(s) this week. Only one poster is required.

4: Bookbinding Workshop preparation:

Bring all of your unused test sheets to use for the bookbinding workshop, as well as the samples of the various papers you will be binding into the book. You will need to bring to class: Bookbinding needle, bookbinding thread, x-acto knife, white artist tape, a paper weight (I use a jar, or bag, full of coins), a sharpened pencil, and a ruler. Some items can be shared. These items are sold at UCLA Ackerman, Blicks Art Store, and Hiromi. Online bookbinding tutorials (perfect, Japanese, sewing) are found in the class website under ‘Binding Guide.’ Please review them prior to class.

WEEK 9: WEDNESDAY _ 03.07.18

Review student work. Individual meetings

Coptic Bookbinding Workshop _ from 11am to 1pm

Homework: Due Monday _ 03.12.18 _ WEEK 10

1: Your Waste Awareness Project: Final Production/Bookbinding Phase

Your entire book needs to be printed by now, including your covers and chapter dividers. We’ll focus on book binding techniques. You may use the class hours to bind your book. Be prepared to have to leave it in place for a few hours.

2: Change a Habit Project: Final Production/fabrication Phase

All fabrication needs to be completed. Bring additional documentation of your project.

WEEK 10: MONDAY _ 03.12.18

Review student work. Individual meetings

Bookbinding

WEEK 10: WEDNESDAY _ 03.14.18

Final presentation.

Please arrive at 8:30 to have all your work ready for presentation at 9:00am. Presentations will be 5 minutes each with 1 minute for remarks and will go until 11:00 am. From 11:00 to 12:00 is more an exhibition space where everyone is free to walk around and see individual projects in detail.